I happened upon this wild sight of trains being shipped away to be added to the artificial reefs in New Jersey.
Posted on May 12, 2008 at 12:30 AM | Comment (2 comments) | Digg
NOC 167 has been one of my favorite writers for many years. In the late 80s I met him and hung with him on a number of occasions when he we would bump into each other at Henry Chalfant’s studio. Both Noc and I were friends of Henry’s and we could always count on him to open the door for us. Back then Noc was homeless and suffering from schizophrenia. He was no longer the style master he was known for in the 70s but we hung out anyway. By the 90s I lost touch with him and didn’t bump into him at all. I never knew what happened to him. Every 5 years or so there was a Noc sighting and I was always happy to hear that he was alive. Over the years I ended up collecting his old art work which seem to be hard to find and he certainly doesn’t have any of it. Here and there I have found some gems. But lately I have reconnected with him thru my friends, Pink and Smith, and have been able to hang with him and push him to draw again. it’s been quite amazing. He’s not the same man that he was in the 70s but he has a natural artistic talent. Here are some works from him that show the inner workings of an old style writer who also happens to be dealing with a serious mental illness. Peace.
Posted on May 11, 2008 at 08:35 AM | Comment (3 comments) | Digg
tonight! THE LORDZ in Brooklyn
Wednesday, April 30th
Come hangout for a good cause and see
THE LORDZ
perform at Southpaw
125 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Showtime 9pm
Hosted by Sasha Jenkins
Plus a special screening of the FUSE docu-series
THE BROOKLYN WAY
**A Lupus charity event**
Posted on April 30, 2008 at 10:13 AM | Comment (0 comments) | Digg
Bomb it movie NYC premiere tonight!
Award winning director Jon Reiss’ new documentary, Bomb It, a global graffiti film, premieres around the country starting NOW.
Reiss traveled to 5 continents and interviewed almost 200 artists. Personalities such as Cornbread, Lady Pink, KRS One, Shepard Fairey, Os Gemeos, and others share their lives with the camera.
The myriad complexities regarding public space were explored in New York, Philadelphia, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Barcelona, Berlin, Cape Town, São Paulo, and Tokyo, and Los Angeles.
The 93-minute film screens across the country this spring (http://bombit-themovie.com/blog/?p=275). Docurama Films will release it on DVD May 27th.
Here’s all the info… NYC info first, followed by our press release.
FYI, the DVD comes out May 27, 2008 through Docurama Films.
event info:
Posted on April 24, 2008 at 11:57 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Digg
Tomorrow I will be participating in a panel discussion and presentation at Pratt University in Brooklyn. I am honored to be on a panel with such distinguished artists and activists. If you are free come out and check out the event.
Urban Artists and the Politics of Visibility: A Conversation with Angela Davis
April 23 12:30 to 2:30 Memorial Hall
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn (G train to Clinton/Washington)
Community Participation Welcome! Event Free
Contact the Initiative for Art, Community and Social Change at: InitiativeACSC@gmail.com
Panelists:
Angela Davis, Hank Willis Thomas, Dread Scott, Amy Sananman, Alan Ket
One of the unequalled powers of art has always been its ability to speak the unspoken and make visible the invisible-- and nowhere is this more true than in New York City. On April 23rd, 2008, Pratt will host a conversation between Angela Davis and a range of New York-based artists exploring their shared passion for the “politics of visibility.” Like Davis, these artists defy the separations and silences imposed by institutions like prison, the police, and the military; by categories like race, gender, and class; and by the increasing division between public and private urban space. They work across genres including film and photography, graffitti and mural painting, theater and spoken word. And whether through creative content or social context, their work transcends the confines and conventions of the established art world, politicizing the collective act of seeing and making art, and making visible and audible issues and communities long marginalized in the contemporary city. The event will include short presentations by the artists, an open discussion with Angela Davis, and Q&A from the audience.
DREAD SCOTT makes revolutionary art to propel history forward. He first received national attention in 1989 when his art became the center of controversy over its use of the American flag. He works in a range of media, including installation, photograph, screen printing, video and performance.
AMY SANANMAN is Groundswell Community Mural Project’s founder and Executive Director. Sananman conceived of Groundswell in 1996 with themission to bring together professional artists, grassroots organizations and communities to create high quality murals in underrepresented neighborhoods.
ALAN KET is a Brooklyn native who became an artist while painting subway trains. He is an active aerosol artist traveling extensively to document the street art movement as well as to share his work. Most recently he faced a year long criminal case against the city and lost. He is now a convicted felon.
HANK WILLIS THOMAS creates works that reflect on the symbols of commodity culture and the impact of violence in African American communities. He is interested in the subject of perception of reality as it is manipulated in photography and media.
Posted on April 22, 2008 at 02:19 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Digg
Mico just put me up on this pro-Puerto Rico, anti-F.B.I. video. Very dope. Bringing to light the Macheteros’ and PR’s struggle.
Posted on April 15, 2008 at 12:56 AM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
http://blvdart.com/blog/index.php/ghost-in-april/
if you are in Seattle next week check out Ghost’s new exhibit at BLVD gallery.
Here’s a sneak peak at one of his paintings…
Posted on April 05, 2008 at 09:23 PM | Comment (1 comments) | Permalink | Digg
This week I found myself on a Middle East movie viewing trip. I recommend them for anyone who is interested in different perspectives and some history on these nations and on Kabul. The movies are: Osama, The Kite Runner, and Promises.
All three movies were heart breakers and tragic. The oppression, fear and despair are too much to even watch. I feel so privileged after watching the struggle of the main characters, the young kids. Our so called recession is a joke compared to these war ravaged lands. And its getting worse....
Posted on April 04, 2008 at 11:17 PM | Comment (2 comments) | Permalink | Digg
MOVE 9 is up for parole. They need support in order to be released from prison. They’ve done 30 years already!!
See video below.
Support their petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/move9parole/
Call the parole board. (717-787-5699)
learn more: http://www.onamove.com/
Almost 30 years after their 1978 imprisonment, the eight remaining “MOVE 9” prisoners are now eligible for parole. April hearings are scheduled for Debbie, Delbert, Eddie, Janet, Janine, Mike, and Phil Africa (Chuck is eligible six months later than the others). In early April, they will be interviewed on an individual basis, and ultimately a majority 5/9 vote among the nine Parole Board Members will be needed for each prisoner’s release on parole.
At this urgent time, MOVE is asking for support by writing letters, making telephone calls (717-787-5699), and signing the online petition that will be delivered to the Board later this month.
Along with Chairman Catherine C. McVey, the other eight Parole Board Members are Charles Fox, Michael L. Green, Jeffrey R. Imboden, Matthew T. Mangino, Benjamin A. Martinez, Gerard N. Massaro, Judy Viglione, Lloyd A. White.
It is best for individuals to personally send a letter to Chairman McVey, and if folks have the resources, to also send a copy to each of the other eight board members, at the same address.
[name of Board member]
Board of Probation and Parole
Attn: Inmate Inquiry
1101 South Front Street, Suite 5300
Harrisburg, PA 17104
(717) 787-5699
WEBSITE
However, if individuals lack the resources, the letter can be sent to:
Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal
PO Box 30770
Philadelphia, PA, 19104
Posted on April 04, 2008 at 11:00 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
How the subways wiped out graffiti
Today’s Metro New York newspaper ran an article (below) regarding the elimination of subway graffiti. The information is nothing new to those of you in the know but I want to point out a particular quote, “The NYPD’s transit bureau keeps a database of about 1,500 tags to identify repeat offenders. Locations are staked out, often planting a car on an isolated stretch of track and hiding cops inside.” Don’t say you weren’t warned. As subway writing increases, and it is increasing in NY, cops are starting to stake out yards and lay-ups like they did in the 80s and 90s. Be careful out there people.
peace
How the subways wiped out graffiti
by patrick arden / metro new york
APR 1, 2008
MANHATTAN. While envisioning the future of the MTA recently, transit boss Elliot Sander recalled the past.
The city’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s had led to a decade of neglect. Trains derailed every 18 days. “Subway crime was a fact of life in a system covered with graffiti,” Sander said.
That described the situation in 1984, when David Gunn was named president of the New York City Transit Authority.
The MTA was two years into its first capital improvement plan, and the 4 line began to get new stainless steel cars. Gunn asked about plans to keep the new trains clean of graffiti.
“They had no plans,” Gunn, still amazed today, told Metro. “They had sort of given up.”
Repainted cars were simply sent back into the system. “You’d have one virgin car in the middle of a train completely covered in graffiti,” Gunn said. “You might as well put a sign on it: ‘Paint me.’”
Adding field managers, Gunn hatched a plan to rid graffiti, starting on the 4 and 7 lines and then focusing all efforts on one line at a time.
“We had to put in place not only clean trains, but the means to keep them clean,” he said. “We also decided that once you put out a clean train it would never go out dirty. If we could keep them clean, we could make a projection as to when the last train with graffiti would run.”
One line at a time isn’t a new tactic
The line-by-line solution of the Gunn Era sounds similar to the broader plans of current NYC Transit President Howard Roberts, who wants to make every line more autonomous.
Now retired, David Gunn is reluctant to draw a comparison. “We isolated subway lines in terms of priority, but we ran the trains as a system,” he said. “Yet the best way to attack a problem is to break it down into small pieces.”
The authority versus the artists
In a train yard at 132nd Street, the graffiti was sophisticated. With the same trains laid up every evening, taggers could take their time: one night for an undercoat, the next for an outline and the third for color.
“These kids worked three nights, all night long, until they had something they were proud of,” Gunn said. “Just before the train would go into service ... we’d have cops dressed as car cleaners come in to slosh paint all over it. The kids would be in hysterics, literally, crying and begging you to let it make just one trip.”
The new scourge: Scratchiti
Graffiti is still a problem, though not as daunting as in the old days. NYC Transit is now waging a war on the more menacing scourge of acid-etched scratchiti. Newer train
models even have Mylar sheets on their windows that can be removed once marked. The NYPD’s transit bureau keeps a database of about 1,500 tags to identify repeat offenders. Locations are staked out, often planting a car on an isolated stretch of track and hiding cops inside.
Posted on April 01, 2008 at 05:52 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
me and my boys, Todd James and Jamil Gs, getting our dance on…
Posted on March 29, 2008 at 02:00 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
If you haven’t stopped wearing fur yet check out this video. The video shows a good look at inhumane treatment of animals. Its enough to make me throw up and yet I need to post it. It sucks that with humans thinking we are so advanced that we still need to clothe ourselves with animal hides and fur.
http://www.furisdead.com
Posted on March 24, 2008 at 11:39 PM | Comment (2 comments) | Permalink | Digg
New Three Thug Mice clip starring FUZZ
So I had FUZZ One do some voice over work for http://www.threethugmice.com some time ago.
Here’s a snippet of it. see more on threethugmice.com.
Also had Min, Stak, Ghost, and others get busy.
My man is crazy.
Posted on March 19, 2008 at 11:13 AM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
EGS and JANI Tolin show - England
Two of my friends from Helsinki are having a show in London. If you are in the area, come out. Their art is amazing.
Posted on March 17, 2008 at 08:44 AM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
The New York Times just covered by boy Thomas from Overkill and the Rhythm of the Line festival this weekend. Check out the video on Berlin bombing as he breaks it down.
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=9bbd2777de68f048dff2a6938e911e86c9a02eae
Also here’s a photo QUIK was nice enough to send my way from Berlin.
Posted on March 02, 2008 at 12:13 PM | Comment (1 comments) | Permalink | Digg
On a recent trip to Panama I was impressed by the tricked out way the city buses are painted and customized. Buses in this Latin American city are the major means of transportation in Panama City and the owners of the buses and drivers take great pride in the look of the vehicle. Airbrush art is alive and well out there and I was lucky enough to make it to a major bus depot to photograph a great amount of the buses. Here are just a few.
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 01:15 AM | Comment (6 comments) | Permalink | Digg
Here’s a video interview from 1994 that shows that VP Cheney new a war in Iraq was wrong way back when. So the question is what kind of situation changes the mind of this man against what he believes is true? Could it be corruption? Presidential persuasion? and ultimately what does a war that you know is wrong and bad for Americans do to his conscience? How can he sleep at night?
Posted on February 25, 2008 at 04:56 PM | Comment (1 comments) | Permalink | Digg
Check out http://Www.threethugmice.com
It’s a new animated cartoon series that gets uploaded weekly and features voice overs by Kool G Rap, Ra the rugged man, MIN ONE, M-1, me and many others. It’s violent, funny, and a real New York production. Big ups to Smarcus for putting in all the time and energy to get this done.
Posted on February 20, 2008 at 08:55 AM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
RIP MOM 707
Dear friends,
On Valentine’s day, February 14th at 9pm, FUZZ One’s mother, Rosemary Fedorchak passed away. She died in the hospital after being hospitalized for the last year and one half. During that time she suffered a heart attack and other maladies. Her son, Vincent (Fuzz) was with her every day, helping to feed her and be supportive. Along the way he moved her to four different hospitals trying to get her the best care. Rosemary was 70 years old at the time of her death. Fuzz is her only living relative.
I am reaching out to you all because FUZZ does not have the financial means to bury or even cremate his mother. She had no life insurance and limited health insurance, the costs of her care was staggering.
He is in dire straights and if you can imagine losing your mother, it is taking a toll on his health. He reached out to me for help and I in return am reaching out to you to ask for a donation, anything you can afford, to help this man out.
Please mail checks or money orders to:
Vincent Fedorchak
22 E. Broome St., Apt. 2
Port Jervis, NY 12771
He has a few days to get it together. I hope you can help.
Posted on February 17, 2008 at 08:20 AM | Comment (4 comments) | Permalink | Digg
Haters by Tania Cuevas-Martinez
Posted on January 27, 2008 at 11:34 AM | Comment (1 comments) | Permalink | Digg
Old school video featuring Spank TC5, Brim, James, and others.
Posted on January 20, 2008 at 10:57 PM | Comment (1 comments) | Permalink | Digg
Don’t miss this special show from New York’s premier style master.
Posted on December 10, 2007 at 03:18 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
In case you don’t live in San Francisco you might have missed the recent GHOST show that just went up. Check out his new work online at the White Walls gallery: http://www.sleepmovement.com/gallery.php?artist_id=98#
He also painted the outside of the spot.
Big up to GHOST, he’s doing big things.
Posted on November 28, 2007 at 08:30 PM | Comment (1 comments) | Permalink | Digg
my URB.com interview part 3 - talking about the old days
Posted on November 28, 2007 at 02:51 PM | Comment (0 comments) | Permalink | Digg
